Denver's five best breakfast burritos

While we especially love a greasy mess of eggs, green chile and chorizo wrapped in a tortilla when we're combating the effects of a night of bad decisions, we'll brake for breakfast burritos in this town any day of the week. And while it's hard to mess up a breakfast burrito, there are a few spots in the Mile High City that make this morning gut-bomb better than anyone else.

This Colorado chain that grew out of a Brighton restaurant serves what may be Colorado's most iconic breakfast burrito, a crowd-pleasing blend of eggs, potatoes and whatever meat the restaurant is serving that day, be it chorizo, ham, bacon or breakfast sausage. Ladled with hot green chile, the best part of the deal is that the burrito sells for just $1.75 -- or $2 if you wanted it sprinkled with cheese.

There are two times when you'll find a line at this East Colfax taqueria: when the spit is running out front under the taco tent, and in the mornings, when the neighborhood's denizens line up for their breakfast fixes. And with good reason: Tacos Mex must cook all eggs and meats on the same greasy grill, because there's the unquestionable influence of bacon grease laced through every breakfast burrito the place serves, which only serves to enhance the combination of meat, egg and potato, bound by a lard-infused tortilla and topped by one of the many fiery, crave-worthy sauces on the joint's salsa bar.

Tamales Moreno makes some superlative tamales, but so long as we're stopping by to pick up a dozen, we'll make our trip in the morning so we've got an excuse to stuff our faces with a breakfast burrito, too. Fresh, stretchy flour tortillas are stuffed with scrambled eggs, crisp bits of smoky bacon, soft potatoes and green chile, which oozes into every crevice. And beyond the ingredients, these burritos are flavored by the sort of smokiness or grease that can only come from a well-seasoned pan or, maybe, a grubby kitchen covered with old cooking film, and that's enough to make you polish off every last bite.

This low-rent Mexican restaurant serves a massive menu that spans everything from Mexican pizza to chile cheese fries with chicharones, but no matter what time of day we stop by, our gaze falls straight to the breakfast burrito section, a list of ten different combinations that all include fluffy scrambled eggs and crisp, caramelized potatoes plus bacon, chorizo, steak or ham. And while fiery chile comes inside, we often ask for the whole thing to be smothered, too. The massive result earned our Best Breakfast Burrito - Eat In nod in Best of Denver 2011.

If you don't live in the area, it's worth trekking up to the El Mercado parking lot in Lafayette for the breakfast burritos from the Taco Wagon, which are passed through a sliding glass window into the hands of hungry hordes below. The tiny spot creates a near perfect blend of eggs, peppery potatoes and spicy chorizo, blended with wickedly hot chile and wrapped in a neat tortilla package. That's what landed Taco Wagon the award for Best Breakfast Burrito - To Go in Best of Denver 2011.